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The Peach Music Festival Hosts A Bevy Of Collaborations On Friday

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The Peach Music Festival was in full swing on Friday at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pennsylvania as the jam-friendly event hit day two of four. Yesterday’s action unfolded on three stages and saw a heavy dose of collaborations on fest’s main stage. The Peach’s smallest, the Grove Stage hosted the likes of a Midnight North, Kitchen Dwellers and Magic Beans. Over on the Mushroom Stage The Suffers, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, Leftover Salmon and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe helped hold things down. Meanwhile, the Peach Stage featured a veritable who’s who of acts from the jam scene that crossed generations where sit-ins were featured throughout.

After sets from Jackie Greene & Anders Osborne and feel-good reggae star Micheal Franti & Spearhead rising jam act Twiddle performed for the second time in as many days at the fest. Billed as “Twiddle & Frends” the Vermont-based band didn’t disappoint on as they shared the stage with throughout their ten-song set. The band was joined out of the gates by the Turkuaz Horns and would welcome Jeremy Schon of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong as well as Torrin Daniels and Shawn Swain of Kitchen Dwellers.

The biggest surprise came towards the end of their hour and a half set as Twiddle continued their now longstanding relationship with the father-son tandem of Phil and Grahame Lesh. The former Grateful Dead bassist and current Midnight North frontman lent a hand on a take on “Bertha” which segued into Twiddle’s “Subconscious Prelude.” The ad-hoc ensemble welcomed one more guest as vocalist Elliott Peck, who led John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” earlier, joined in to help close out their set with a take on “Eyes Of The World.”

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moe. took the stage next as the Buffalo-native band used “Brent Black” to open and close their set. In between the old-school tune that dates back to 1994 the five-piece band delivered an impressive opening segue-filled run that saw them stitch together “Billy Goat” > “Tubing The River Styx” > “The Pit” > “Tubing The River Styx” > “George” > “Down Boy.” The band also brought out the members of The Revivalists and the Turkuaz Horns for a cover of The Band’s “Ophelia.” The Northern Lights-Southern Cross tune hadn’t been played since last summer’s Lockn’ Festival. Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” which had been busted out this past week for the first time in nearly two years, eventually wound its way back into the final portion of “Brent Black.”

After a set from The Revivalists, Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band showed off its “new” lineup featuring old drummer Alex Koford on guitar with Nathan Graham behind the kit. The multi-piece band served up a selection of tunes from the Grateful Dead catalog opening things up with “China Cat Sunflower” > “Mr. Charlie” with the latter featuring Elliot Peck on vocals. The back half of the set was highlighted by “The Other One.” The classic psychedelic-era Dead tune wound its way into “Bird Song” with Karl Denson emerging to play flute throughout the Janis Joplin tribute song and sticking around as it segued back into “The Other One.”

Umphrey’s McGee was tasked with closing out the Peach Stage with a late-night set that stretched from midnight into the early part of Saturday morning. The Chicago-based band would use much of the opening portion of their set to showcase material from their two most recent studio efforts. “Triangle Tear” from their recent surprise album it’s you opened things up, while “Remind Me,” “Half Delayed” and “Maybe Someday” was tapped from it’s not us. Later in the night, the Turkuaz Horns continued their busy night as they assisted Umphrey’s on their debut take on The Rolling Stones'”Bitch.” After delivering the Sticky Fingers track guitarist Brendan Bayliss said, “We’ve been waiting to do that one for a long time.” The horn section would stick around for UM original “Attachments” and a take on Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.”

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Watch full show fan-shot video from Twiddle, moe., Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band and Umphrey’s McGee below: